Global Healthcare Summit 2013: A New initiative to channelize diaspora expertise in healthcare

Published Date: Sunday, Jan 06, 2013

The Global Healthcare Summit 2013 held at International Convention Centre, Cochin , Kerala, India from January 1-3 in collaboration with Ministries of Overseas Indian Affairs and India Development Foundation of Overseas Indians (IDFOI) in which the Union government and the American association of physicians of Indian origin (AAPI) created new platform to channelize the diaspora expertise in healthcare. IT and Healthcare professionals constitute strong professional Indian diaspora. Healthcare professionals are a strong three lakhs doctors and many more paramedical professionals abroad. However, transferring the expertise has been a huge challenge. AAPI had made several efforts earlier and made memorandum of understanding (MoU) with various state governments, however, due to the deficit of logistical support and infrastructure, there has not been much impact in the skill transfer.

The three-day conference which was attended by over 400 foreign delegates and 900 national delegates brought new ideas and strategies to provide better way to collaborate with the Indian counterparts in which the Overseas Indian Affairs and Health ministries will be played nodal agencies. The Summit focused on strategies to share the best practices, developing efficient and cost effective solutions for India. The summit also identified the priority areas such as Cardiology, Maternal & Child Health, Diabetes, Oncology, Surgery, Mental Health, HIT, Allergy, Immunology & Lung Health and impact of comorbidities.

"We will submit to the government our recommendations on how we can help Indians with cost-effective and innovative health solutions, based on the discussions here," said Dr Narendra Kumar, president of AAPI.

The three days conference also had plenary sessions, interactive round-tables, clinical practice workshops, meet-the-expert sessions and a scientific poster session.